Game-we are not happy :(

regeneration

Excluded why? What's so different about online games?

Hmm I wonder if there's an explicit policy mentioned in the shop, because taking away consumer rights because of some spotty pirate wannabes strikes me as being .. well... unfair.

rainbow kirby

They've changed all the 10 day returns posters to say 'console games' instead of 'all games' like they used to.
And what's so different about online games is the keycode. The keycode that comes in most new PC games can only be used once for online play. So whoever bought your Star Wars Galaxies would have returned it as faulty because the keycode was used, if it wasn't marked as faulty when you returned it.

regeneration

Well let's assume that it was. Plus I cancelled my account (I didn't want 20euro debitted from my account per month for a game I dont own ), so presumably if someone bought my copy, LucasArts woudl have set up a new account with that keycode, it's not unreasonable to think that they would have a "clean slate" on that serial number.

well it's nice to see a chain store adopting a draconian approach to customer satisfaction simply to bolt the barn door after the horse had bolted. But we both know that any "non gamey" looking person will have success with a refund.

Syth

Lots of people are mentioning the small claims courts, but I don't really think you can use that against companies, only private individuals or individulas who own companies. Not the companies themselves. I'm not too sure though.

tipperaryboy

Game are fools.Never go into a Game,nor buy in it.Dont give those fools your money.The other better games retailers are
1)GameStop .Value For Money Average.Customer Service Satisfactory.
2)XtraVision .Value For Money Good.Customer Service Needs Improvement.
3)HMV .Value For Money Great.Customer Service Great.

And as for GAME
Value For Money Poor.Customer Service Hardly Know Anything

griffdaddy

it's 9 euro to bring someone to the small claims court

regeneration

Well no, I dont buy from GAME anymore, it's strictly Play.com for me, evenif they take AGES to deliver now

In GAME's favour, they seem to have a nice hiring policy of attractive girls.

rainbow kirby

tipperaryboy wrote:

And as for GAME
Customer Service Hardly Know Anything

*shakes fist*

neXus9

musician wrote:

The game industry like the film industry is doing fine as far as I can tell. Tel the publishers to reduce prices if they are that concerned.

At least with the film idustry, they'll make money out of cinema goers. Also, they're open to a much more accessible audience (no PC to watch films and much more people like/have the time for films rather than games). A lot of game companies are struggling trying to get their game out, only losing a ton through pirate copies. Imagine if Duke nukem forever finally came out, it would be a pain spending millions in development (how much have they spent on that game????), only for millions of people to just simply download it without paying a penny.

Anyway PC games are quite cheap compared to console games.

regeneration

well in that regard, yes; it is a lose lose scenario situation for games companies (look at the fuss people make here over starforce - games companies attempts at curbing illegal copies); but I don't like the idea of actual retailers victimising legitimate customers who may make bad purchases on the offchance the person might be a pirate/net-kiddie.
I mean I find it hard to stomach GAME suddenly growing a sense of responsibility after years of selling mortal kombat, GTA and all sorts of unsuitable games to underage kids. Smacks of double standards.

smiaras

This post has been deleted.

regeneration

tabloids have nothing to do with it, and I accuse parents as much for the problem as anything, but I don't believe any child should play games that are below the age sticker for it. And Ive seen it plenty of times in the past all the major game stores selling clearly labelled material to obviously underage kids. Just p!sses me off more that the daily mirror et al point the finger at the game developers rather than at those ina position to be responsible about it - the retailers. But now they are being better about it, so all's well in the world. Pffh.

Dr Bolouswki

Age stickers? how about parents take responsibility for what their kids do rather than trying to have governments/retailers/developers/film-makers doing their work for them?

**rant over***

I'm pretty much on the side of the customer here, though would a firmware update for his DVD drive not fix the problem? That aside, I've ntoiced in game lately that they always ask you now if your machine meets the minimum specs...

I generally buy from play, but buy from game if I want something in a rush....

And BTW, surely if the game has a flaw doesn't amtter whether he buys it form game or online> result is stillt he same. Play.com won't take back a game unless its still sealed either...

RicardoSmith

Your missing the point. If a games is faulty, you can return it within your consumer rights as a defective product. That the law despite what game say. If they have a problem with that, then they should stop selling PC games. It has naff all to do with anything else.

One of the reasons games come out half finished is that people don't return them as faulty, when they should. Then maybe they'd finish them properly. Buying a new game before you see if it has issues or not is just stupid. Personally I wait for at least the first patch, and also check what the user forums are saying.

Of couse this is all leading to the decline of PC games and more console games. The PC is great for niche games, but the mainstream junk should be on consoles.

neXus9

regeneration wrote:

look at the fuss people make here over starforce - games companies attempts at curbing illegal copies

They never mentioned it though, which is what people hated. Also it damaged a lot of people's computers to the point that they had to reformat.

smiaras

This post has been deleted.

Hobbes

Heh, the last time I was in game I asked when City of Heroes was being released here (it was already released in the US).

The guy behind the counter swore blind that such a game does not exist nor is it being worked on. Didn't even check the computer.

Btw, I am seeing the moving away from PC games in Game. Is this intentional?

Also did you know you can also copy PS2, XBox, Gamecube, GBA games.

.. Lastly Game...

My brother bought a ton of games (a serious amount for himself and the cafe he worked in). So many that he had racked up loads of points to buy quite a lot of stuff. What did game do when he was about to cash them in? It reworked his points system so he couldn't buy anything.

smiaras

This post has been deleted.

regeneration

how about parents take responsibility for what their kids do rather than trying to have governments/retailers/developers/film-makers doing their work for them?

And how do you teach parents, who mostly never grew up with videogames and wouldn't have a clue about this thing, to know about what little johnny is playing? I mean there's a general effort to make sure minors don't get into overage movies etc, but when it comes to videogames, it's ok just to blithely sell anything to a 5 year old "sure isn't it all just for kids anyway?"

Your missing the point. If a games is faulty, you can return it within your consumer rights as a defective product. That the law despite what game say. If they have a problem with that, then they should stop selling PC games. It has naff all to do with anything else.

Well In fairness I used to get a load of customers in Lexmark complaining about "consumer rights" when it turned out their year old printer was faulty, and still felt there was some obligation on the part of the maker/retailer to furnish replacements. however, I suspect that Ireland doesn't have any consumer watchdog, but we WOULD be controlled under EU consumer law, consumers are protected by EU regs regarding guaranteed goods; the extent that it protects customers from goods purchased in the space of 10-30 days, Im not sure. Im fairly sure GAME are trying a fast one.

One of the reasons games come out half finished is that people don't return them as faulty, when they should. Then maybe they'd finish them properly. Buying a new game before you see if it has issues or not is just stupid. Personally I wait for at least the first patch, and also check what the user forums are saying.

no the reason games come out half finished is cos publishrs force developers to submit untested code as gold so they can meet financial deadlines (the financial year is divided in quarters, plus there's xmas markets etc) and thus raise their profit margin. Just cnyical marketing.

Hobbes

smiaras wrote:

This post has been deleted.

They basically devalued his points to a fraction of what were worth.

smiaras

This post has been deleted.

jaggeh

what actually happened in hobbes tail was this

i pre-booked and bought a total of 11 copies of tribes 2 when it was released(having got my copy a week early thanks to hobb-mail©).

now i bought them in two lots cos i had to go back for more money, i got 6 on my card and the other 5 on my co-workers.

neither of us got any points at all....ever despite complaining. at the time points were 2 per 1 pound, and double for pre-booked/new releases.

so in total i was done out of 1980 points, which at the time was worth 198 pounds in vouchers, which i never saw.

i know my card wasnt faulty cos i bought a game the next week and complained about not getting my points, and then a while later i got my vouchers for the game i had purchased the week after (think it was aoe2+expansion).

stopped buying stuff from game after that pretty much, smyths and gamesworld(gamestop) will always have my business from now on.

RicardoSmith

I would assume that if you have one or two people try return a game its user error. If you have 20 people return a game there must be a problem with it. I don't see whats hard about it. As for asking about an ancient game, a simple "I don't have a figgin clue mate" should be enough.

Dr Bolouswki

quote

"And how do you teach parents, who mostly never grew up with videogames and wouldn't have a clue about this thing, to know about what little johnny is playing?"

Spend some time with the kid - that way they will quickly know whether they feel its suitable or not... I don't believe in blanket controls on what people should/shouldn't do.

Its a radical step in parenting I suppose, much easier to let others make such decisions for you....

neXus9

King Jerk wrote:

Spend some time with the kid - that way they will quickly know whether they feel its suitable or not... I don't believe in blanket controls on what people should/shouldn't do.

Its a radical step in parenting I suppose, much easier to let others make such decisions for you....

Kids will learn to hide the games that their parents won't agree with (violence, pornagraphic, etc.). Kids also could then rent a nasty game to play in their friend's house. Parent's can't watch their kids every minute of the day. Having certs on games is only common sense.

It's very hard to know if a kid is mature enough to diffrenciate between fact or fiction. A lot of kids don't know the full implications of death and violence. A lot of what they see, they replicate. Especially since they're in their youth, this is only natural.

I saw a tai kwondo seminar. After it, two ten year olds were punching the heads off each other. One was left crying. A lot of times when it comes to kids: monkey sees, monkey does.

neXus9

Hobbes wrote:

Also did you know you can also copy PS2, XBox, Gamecube, GBA games.

You can't really copy gamecube games on to an optical media since they're written backwards. There is one method that let's you copy them using your hd, but it's meant to make the game quite choppy. AFAIK, there isn't a way for the gameboy advanced.

tman

erm... gameboy advance is a piece of piss to copy games onto.
not sure where you can get the cartridges now (after ninty put the smackdown on liksang) but you can get carts that allow you to store and play multiple gba roms.
this method isn't reliant on purchasing an original game though, rather downloading them. so my point is moot.

ps2 games on the other hand :rolleyes:

rainbow kirby

There is, actually. It's called using a flash cart...

Syth

regeneration wrote:

In GAME's favour, they seem to have a nice hiring policy of attractive girls.

But attactive girls means not great gamers means not great gaming staff. (Puts on kirby resitsant flame trousers). Unless you know where all these beautiful girl gamers hang out?! Tell us regeneration!!

neXus9 wrote:

You can't really copy gamecube games on to an optical media since they're written backwards.

I really appauld te engineer that came up with that idea. Imagine it, a brainstorming session on copy proection. Some guy thinknig outside the box says "Hey, what if the discs spinned backwards!"

neXus9

tman wrote:

this method isn't reliant on purchasing an original game though, rather downloading them. so my point is moot.

Yeah, I thought not in the way of cartridge to cartridge, but then rainbow kirby suggested a method that I guess would work.